EDITORIAL

Published: December 25, 2003 7:00 PM

Three Butler County lawmakers introduced a bill recently to add a guilty but insane plea to Ohios justice system.

It would replace the not guilty by reason of insanity plea that has made it possible for some who commit heinous crimes to be released after just a few years treatment in a mental institution.

Current law includes no prison time, and orders the judge to place the defendant in the least restrictive setting for treatment. If the defense can convince a jury that a defendant committed a crime while insane, he is committed to a hospital, then released when considered cured.

Under the proposal by Rep. Greg Jolivette, R-Hamilton, a defendant convicted as guilty but insane would receive mental treatment, followed by prison time.

Some argue it is unfair to confine and treat a person who, once cured, is then imprisoned for an act the law has ruled he was not responsible for.

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That might be addressed if the new law stipulates that the total of treatment and prison time will be roughly equal to what a straight prison term would be for a guilty verdict and if it includes closer supervision after release.

Such a solution could satisfy both the communitys sense of justice and the defendants right to fairness. Lawmakers should waste no time crafting a workable guilty but insane plea.